The Spruce Goose goes by several designations. It was the fourth aircraft produced by the Hughes Corp. and therefore is designated Hughes H-4. Its co-designers were Howard Hughes and Henry Kaiser. Therefore it can also be designated as the Hughes HK-1. The most popular name for the aircraft, however, is the Spruce Goose, due to its all wood construction. It was made primarily from plywood, not spruce.

The Spruce Goose type of aircraft is called a flying boat, but sometimes a seaplane. Although the name seaplane is usually thought of as a smaller aircraft on floats. On July 9, 1990 custody of the Spruce Goose went to the Evergreen Aviation Museum, located in McMinnville, Oregon where it is currently on display.

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(1) Completing the center of gravity test on the Aero Telemetry Spruce Goose. (2) Joe Bok and the Aero Telemetry crew installs the massive Spruce Goose wing prior to conducting a balance test. (3) Spruce Goose enters the water for the first time and floats majestically in the Long Beach Harbor. (4) Spruce Goose comes close alongside camera ship during filming.

Spruce Goose

Pictured above is the Spruce Goose built for "The Aviator" motion picture by Aero Telemetry. The airplane is powered by eight electric brushless motors. Wingspan is 300 inches and all up weight is around 200 lbs. We want to thank Rob Hartz from Aero Telemetry for sending us the photos with the captions.